Saturday, July 25, 2009

It is almost two weeks since the last web design class. I really enjoyed the class. I learned a lot of useful information and I was able to apply it to my life. So even though nobody is going to grade my blog, I felt like checking in and writing down some of my thoughts. I took a little break from studying till September. Then I will be hitting it hard again. I took two classes this past time, and I am sorry I did that. Probably won't do that again. If anybody does read this blog, I will be surprised. Maybe I will check back in later if I have anything worthwhile to say.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Here is the website I built with Webnode. I started this at 6:30 this morning. It is now 1:37 pm. I could have shaved off about 3 hours if there were some directions. Blah, Blah, Cry me a river.

Now it all makes sense. It is all relative, if you know how to do it, then anything is easy. I will type out all the details after I get some refreshment.

Thinking back on Monday evening and my very "rocky road" experience with Frontpage. The evening started out a little bit shaky, but by 10:00 I was almost finished. I still need to add the additional links and tweak some of the cosmetic issues. Some of the columns aren't lining up exactly right. I made my logo a little bit different for Webnode, so I still need to replace that. I also need to get rid of a few of the duplicate pictures. For the most part, I was pretty satisfied with the way that Frontpage looked when I was finished. The Frontpage format worked well for me. I erased some prefab formats and put in some new tables. This is pretty easy to do with Front page. You can get rid of the unwanted stuff without much trouble.

Like I said earlier in my blog, I started playing with Webnode at about 6:30 am Wednesday morning. I signed up for an account, actually, I signed up for it late Tuesday night.Anyway, as I started playing with WebNode, I was getting pretty discouraged. I could not find any instructions anywhere. I see now that there is a tutorial at the sign in screen. Sadly, I did not see that until after I had already figured out the program through trial and error. When I figured out how to upload pictures, and how to apply the templates then I started to get somewhere. The templates are nice, and you have a lot of different templates to choose from. They look very polished.

The top of the screen, the website name field is not easily edited. I have not been able to change font style, font size, or the color of the text. If anybody else has figured out how to change them, would you please let me know.

At first, I was wishing for the flexibility of the Frontpage, when I could not figure anything out, but when I started to make progress, I think I have a new favorite. Webnode is more polished looking overall, and it has more gadgets.

Features that are easier or better with Webnode.......

Previewing your webpage is easier with Webnode.

You can set up a slide show of your pictures with Webnode (not available with Frontpage)

I like the styling of the templates better

Webnode is free

You don't get the Active X script message every time you load the page

It has widgets and other cool add ons

Features that are easier or better with Frontpage.......

It is easier to change fonts, and headings at any location of the webpage

You can delete unwanted "stuff" easier

The links to the website are also displayed on the bottom of the page

Home is listed with the other links (With webnode the home button is available, just not at the same location.

I liked the styling of the tabs on the left - (a little fancier)

You can put a description with each picture that you upload (I could not figure out how to do this in Webnode.)

(Never mind, I just figured it out in Webnode. You can add a description under Image Properties.)

Some of these things may be different with other templates, and since I don't have a lot of experience with either Frontpage or Webnode, I can only speak based on my limited use with only a few of the layouts. I would rather use the layouts in Frontpage, or the layouts in Webnodes vs. creating everything from scratch. I can also see why some people choose to use Web generation programs without using templates. Templates are great for novices. However, a website expert may not want to be locked into their limitations.

Overall, I am pleased with the fact that I can in fact build a web site. Yaaaaay. Thanks Ms. Mislevy for your instruction and your patience.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Holy Cow, I am a bit overwhelmed here. I have taken lots of pictures, cropped and resized pictures for my website. I tried to make them all approximately the same size. I am doing a website for my husband. (He was just sent packing from his job of 20 years) The name of the site will be "Wood Art - A Custom Made Legacy "He wants to start a homebased woodworking business. I typed up a few documents in word in preparation for this evening and I have created a storyboard to outline my thoughts.

Storyboard - to create a site map where each sheet represents a specific web page. Without a storyboard, building a website is a lot more complicated. It is important to know how many pages you will need from the start so that the website can be built correctly from the beginning. If you try to add additional links after you have already started, you could have problems linking them together. First the Home Page. I am going to have a Home Page. On the Home Page I will have links to go to several other pages. I will also have some rotating pictures and a breif summary of what the website is all about (Custom made wood items). The first will be the "Craftsman" page. There I will give a brief history of the craftsman and include contact information. The second one will be the "Custom Work" page. There I will explain that furniture and cabinetry can be custom ordered to your specifications. The third page will be the "Gallery". This page will have lots of pictures of items that have already been made. I do not have Frontpage, but if I get stuck in the mud tonight, I may have to buy it to work on this away from class.